Select your speakers + performers
Your local speakers and performers are the inspiration centers of your TEDx event. So selecting, inviting, and preparing them for the big day will be one of the most important tasks you’ll have.
Finding extraordinary speakers isn’t always an easy task. Here are some guiding principles to follow in your search for speakers:
Look for ideas, not speakers
It’s actually not the person you should be searching for, but the person’s idea or innovation. This is a great way to decipher between a TEDx speaker, and an interesting person with an “okay” idea. What will the audience walk away knowing – that this person exists, or a new idea?
For example, if you were to describe a potential talk to a stranger and say more about the speaker (“this lady who runs that local charity,” “this guy who made this film”) than a specific idea, that's a clue that you need to go back to that speaker and find their idea, not their identity.
So, what ideas are you looking for?
● Look for new ideas that originate in your community but are widely relatable
● Look for ideas that need to be defended – not something self-evident, but an interesting argument, perhaps with an antagonist.
● Look for an idea the TED world hasn't heard before. (In other words, not a copy of a TED Talk you like!)
● Look for ideas that change perceptions. (e.g., a scientific discovery that changes how you think about frogs, a philosophical argument that reshapes your notions of friendship.)
TEDx Speaker Checklist
Is this speaker...
● a local voice that few people have heard before?
● someone who can present their field in a new light?
● someone with a perspective to which the global TED community may not have access?
● diverse by demographic, ethnicity, background, and/or topic?
Let speakers know what your expectations are
You’ll want speakers to be sure they know what your expectations are of them, which are:
● Speakers are required to write an outline and/or script and slides
● Speakers are required to be contactable before the event, and have occasional check-ins with you
● Speakers will rehearse their talk for weeks or months in advance, and will attend at least one rehearsal with you, including dress rehearsal
Talk about what your speaker's “idea” might be
Finding your speaker’s idea is one of the most important steps you’ll take. Think of yourself as a journalist who needs to find a good angle for a story.
Line up some questions to help a speaker identify their idea. Here are some that could help draw it out:
● What's a controversy in your field that a general audience would understand?
● What's a common misconception you'd love to clear up?
● Why is this idea important, and to whom?
● Who would disagree with you, and why?
● How did you carry out this idea in your own work?
● What's the big idea behind your new project? How did you sell that idea to funders and collaborators?
You may not find the idea in your first conversation with your speakers. If not, at least get your speakers to start thinking about a very specific argument or idea that will both intrigue a general audience and satisfy other field experts.
If after your talk, both you and your potential speaker are ready to move forward with crafting a great TEDx Talk, add this new speaker to your official roster of TEDx speakers!